Fermentation chamber control panel

[forgetaboudit]

Wanted to share my panel build for my brewpi powered chamber. Everything plugs into their own plugs/outlets for ease of moving or changing if need be.
I just need to install a Wi-Fi antenna as the raspberry pi doesnt get the signal in the enclosure.
Don't mind the messy wiring... I put it together to get her running for tests. Ill be shortening some of the wires and tidying it up a bit.

 

[day_trippr]

Nice job
Is that an RPi4 with an active heat sink?

Cheers!

 

[forgetaboudit]

Nice job
Is that an RPi4 with an active heat sink?

Cheers!

Sure is. I'll run the panel for a while to see the temp inside the enclosure as I've got a one wire temp probe in the enclosure to monitor things.

 

[forgetaboudit]

Nice job
Is that an RPi4 with an active heat sink?

Cheers!

Ran the panel for a while and CPU only got to 35.5C. For comparison, I unhooked the CPU fan and the temp hit 54.6C. All this while just running the web browser between pages. The SSRs havent been on yet since I've built it, so that'll be the real temp test

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, I'm not sure the raspberry pi org made the right move with the RPi4, but those temperatures aren't crazy bad yet.
Are you using the internal RPi temperature sensor reading, or taking manual measurements somehow?

Cheers!

 

[forgetaboudit]

Using the onboard sensors. I read that 80c is the threshold of getting critical. Im sure I'll be fine in the enclosire while running the brewpi

 

[forgetaboudit]

Actually.... Now that I'm thinking... Its the Pi3B

 

[day_trippr]

Ah - much different. Explains the temperatures you're seeing - they'd be much higher with a 4B.
You don't really need a sink at all on a 3B unless you're flogging the hell out of it

Cheers!

 

[forgetaboudit]

Yeah, the nerd in me wanted to throw one on it haha!

 

[day_trippr]

Well, the fan obviously works pretty well, so as long as the noise isn't a pita you might as well use it until it dies...

Cheers!

 

[forgetaboudit]

Well, the fan obviously works pretty well, so as long as the noise isn't a pita you might as well use it until it dies...

Cheers!

Can't even hear it in the panel. Before the panel, you had to get within 6 feet to hear it.

 

[forgetaboudit]

Tenps down to 30.6C after running for an hour installing the new platform system for Brewpi.

 

[TallDan]

Are those SSRs for turning off the heating and cooling? Wouldn't standard relays be better suited for this application?

 

[day_trippr]

For binary control they're pretty much interchangeable, with the SSRs providing the advantage of lack of inductive feedback from relay coils...

Cheers!

 

[forgetaboudit]

Are those SSRs for turning off the heating and cooling? Wouldn't standard relays be better suited for this application?

Compared to mechanical relays, SSRs have a few benefits:

They switch on an AC zero crossing, resulting in much smaller inrush currents

They do not have a limited number of switching cycles, so they are suitable for switching often (as done with PWM).

They are silent